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Kirlawan Popular Front
The Kirlawan Popular Front is an alliance of socialist, anarchist and anti-fascist parties which has been present in Kirlawan politics since the 2240s. Founding Initially an umbrella organisation for groups resisting the dominance of the CandyKids monopoly, the Front flirted with extra-democratic activities such as calling strikes and inciting rebellion. However, by the end of the decade the leadership steered the Front to abandoning violence and pursuing the ballot box, mainly through the efforts of Danivon Luze and Zasper Ertigon to legitimise the party. Danivon Luze became the first party leader, standing down for Zasper Ertigon in 2278 First Incarnation: 2245 - 2292 After a turbulent political scene in the 2250s led to the end of CandyKid dominance and a plethora of parties coming to power, the KPF settled into a period of alliances with leftwing and centrist parties to achieve their long term aims. Over this period, they established a stance of social libertarianism, and refused to join Communist organisations or to support full Nationalisation, policies which became known as 'Ertigonism' after the party's second leader. The zenith of KPF power came in the late 2280s, when Zasper Ertigon became Curator Pacis, KPF policy on the economy and social freedoms was virtually all in place, and the KPF budget which increased both Health spending and Education spending to 1 trillion Kirlawan Dinars (1,000,000,000,000 KDI). At that point, the coalition suddenly tore itself apart. The various constituent groups could not agree on a course of action or even common policies and either withdrew from the Front or became rendered obsolete through increasingly bizarre tactics and policies. When Danivon Luze and Zasper Ertigon died in the 2290s, it was assumed that the party had died with them. Refounded Front: 2298 - 2422 Six years after the first Front had disappeared, Aris Luze, the youngest of Danivon's three sons, attempted to rekindle the party from first principles. Worried by the resurgence of the Kirlawa Far Right National Fascist Front in the 2290s, many ex-Front members joined the new party, and with a new generation of young anti-fascist campaigners, they attempted to recreate the grass-roots based structure of the original KPF. One key difference was that the national leadership committee was given more power, a step designed to avoid the same process which broke up the party in the first place. Formation of Popular Militia At the turn of the century, the KPF frequently complained of intimidation of voters by 'supporters' of the KFRNFF. After a disastrous series of elections in 2304, the Front started it's own vigilante group, the 'Voter Protection Squads'. Almost immediately, the KPF vote increased alongside turnout, and the VPS were kept on permanently. Soon afterwards, there were reputed threats from a Rildanor-based political group to infiltrate Kirlawa and support Fascist and Nuncirist groups in taking on the VPS. In response, the VPS started to mount unofficial border patrols, and in April 2307 three men from Rildanor were picked up near the Nuchtmark border and handed over to the Justice department after a period of detention. A minor scandal erupted when it emerged that the captives had been beaten and interrogated - the KPF and VPS claimed this was 'overzealous and out of character, but entirely understandable given the threat to national security'. No-one was charged, but suspicion remained. Later on, the VPS was renamed the Popular Militia, and Colonel 'X', the shadowy leader of the PM was elevated to the leadership committee of the KPF. Decline - the 2320's Aris Luze stood down as leader of the national party (official title: Chair of National Leadership Committee) in 2320, giving way to Dorien Chernell. Almost immediately, Chernell was faced with a party in turmoil. In 2309 the KPF had won 167 seats in the National Assembly. By 2322 that number had fallen to 60, and the KPF were rock bottom of the polls in Nuchtmark and Dirguzia. At the same time, a new socialist party, the more unified Socialist People's Party of Kirlawa had risen to be the main party of the Left nationally. The SPPK became the largest member of the governing Left Coalition, but the fortunes of the other left and centrist parties involved had not been so bright. When the SPPK fell out with the Liberal Progressive Party (Kirlawa) over new cabinet negotiations and policy differences, the KPF was riven by indecision. Eventually, Dorien Chernell announced that he would not support a proposed cabinet which included the Veritan Catholic Church, which he accused of fascist sympathies, the Left Coalition seemed to be on the brink of collapse. Before things came to a head, the SPPK itself disbanded, and the KPF rejoined the Left Coalition. Involvement in outbreak of Kirlawan Civil War By the 2330s, Kirlawan politics was deeply entrenched. The KFNRFF and Angelis were the two largest parties, with the Left Coalition made up of the KPF, KDL and LPP combined being a major force. The newer religious parties held the balance of power, but the VCC tended to side with the Fascists and the Reformed Political Party (Protestant) often supported the statist policies of the Left. Tristan Angelis of Angelis was president during this period, and a loose coalition of parties, mainly excluding the KFRNFF and VCC governed, with frequent disagreements. Increasingly, tension between the Popular Militia and rightist groups had spilled into violence, and this allowed the KPF to be portrayed as an insurrectionist group. A political deal between the LPP and the KPF to support whichever had most votes for the post of Curator Pacis massively backfired. The LPP lost influential members, and the tactic did not include the KDL properly, and moderate voters were turned off Additionally, the VCC pulled out of politics, and many of their supporters went over to the KFRNFF. In 2333 Angelis were beaten into third place in the election, with a run off between the Fascists and the KPF. Instead of, as hoped, picking up the moderate vote, the candidacy of Dorien Chernell made little headway and so Peter Lucas was elected as Kirlawa's first fascist leader since 2176. As Lucas grabbed executive power and attempted to take over, the KPF and Popular Militia revolted. When the parliament was locked down to enable the State of Emergency Act to pass, the KPF delegation was at first turned back peacefully. They returned with armed members of the Militia, and a brief firefight resulted in three deaths (including that of KPF MP Eric Guran. KPF politicians fled the country and the Popular Militia was chased into the mountains on the Merkan-Dundorf border. Kirlawan Partition With assistance from the Dundorfian regime, the Popular Militia and the KDL/LPP freedom fighters attempted to hold back the Fascist advance. Eventually, Dundorf was drawn into the war directly, and invaded the area of Merkan around Freiheitstadt (where many ethnic Dundorfians had settled). This split the left-wing resistance, with the KPF associating themselves with the Dundorfians and the others maintaining a seperate zone, the Free Union of Kirlawa consisting of the rest of Merkan, most of Uwakah and parts of Dirguzia and Dirlana. The peace plan for Kirlawa separated the country into 4 new states, the FUK and the Fascist dominated east made up the majority of Kirlawa, with a Dorvish controlled area of Uwakah and the Dundorfian enclave as small occupied zones. Dundorf and the KPF founded the Democratic Republic of Kirlawa, which was initially run by the Popular Militia and Dundorfian military, before handing over to a democratic socialist government. The DRK years (2336-2366) The KPF dominated politics in the Democratic Republic, and was instrumental in keeping down political opposition. While all non-fascist parties were tolerated, only Party Reality, the Anarcho Socialist Party and the Greater Dundorf Party escaped repression. Candidates from other parties were often excluded from ballot papers having been accused of 'fascist sympathies', despite flimsy evidence. During the 2350s, it became clear that the Fascist-controlled part of Kirlawa was preparing for another war. The KPF disbanded, and it had been assumed that they had been removed from power at the behest of Dundorf, in favour of more ideologically sound parties, mainly the ASP. However, as war was breaking out across Kirlawa, the Popular Militia was infiltrating the fascist infrastructure in Nuchtmark province. In 2365, the Free Union of Kirlawa was under attack, and at the same time a coup in Dundorf had led the Communist leadership to flee to Freiheitstadt. As the Kirlawan fascist armies were preparing an invasion of the Democratic Republic of Kirlawa the Popular militia struck, launching terrorist attacks on military and government targets across Nuchtmark. The resulting chaos led to a breakthrough for the anti-fascist forces, and the KNFRFF was ousted by a military coup, who immediately opened negotiations to end the Civil War. People's Republic of Kirlawa For the next forty years, the KPF as part of the renewed Leftist Coalition spent much of the time in government. Their suggested national anthem, Awake! Kirlawa was written by Horatio Luze, a cousin of the former leader Gerard Luze, and remains the national song to this day In the early 2400s, the KPF again fell to infighting, this time over whether to maintain the historical secularist postion or to adopt a more strident atheist stance. Again, when faced with such division and when other parties were so closely aligned, the KPF was unable to stop members from leaving. By 2422 the KPF withdrew from democratic politics, although the Popular Militia remained in the background for several decades. Second Refoundation: 2459 to present After a long absence, the KPF returned to mainstream politics in 2359, after a period when the Popular Militia had been maintaining an underground existance. The stated reason was the resurgence of the Love Life Happiness movement, which had descended from the CandyKids. Paramilitary Politics (2459 - 2475) The Popular Front was in reality a front for the Popular Militia during the mid-25th century, with none of it's parliamentary leaders known as anything other than pseudonymous military figures. This was increasingly unpopular with other political parties and a large portion of the electorate. Eventually, as legislation was being proposed to outlaw all paramilitary groups, the Popular Militia was disbanded in 2475. By then, however, the course of the KPF had already changed drastically. Grössere Dundorf Partei (2475 - 2513) The Grössere Dundorf Partei (Greater Dundorf Party) had been a separate political party based in Merkan for a long period, often associated with the KPF, although in opposition to the KPF governments of the Democratic Republic of Kirlawa during partition. In 2462 the GDP affiliated to the KPF, and many of it's members were associated with the Popular Militia. Within ten years, both organisations were largely controlled by people of Dundorfian descent. With a surge in Dundorfian nationalism in Merkan, and in order to signal a clean break with the paramilitary days, the KPF rebranded itself as the Grössere Dundorf Partei. The GDP followed very similar policies to their predecessor, and historians view the parties as being essentially the same in structure and intent. The only real difference was a greater emphasis on promoting a transfer of Merkan to Dundorf, and that the main party figures were ethnically Dundorfian for most of the time. However, the GDP remained a popular choice for left-leaning voters across Kirlawa, and over time the nationalist rhetoric was replaced by a more internationalist outlook. The Party became more successful over time, and at the same time took on a broader outlook. In 2513, the Grössere Dundorf Partei returned to the Popular Front name, although incorporating their Dundorfian influences. Kirlawan/Dundorfian Popular Front 2513 - present Remaining determinedly in the libertarian socialist camp, the KPF started to take a greater interest in the international socialist movement, moving away from their nationalist (both Kirlawan and Dundorfian) isolationist tendencies. =Party Leaders= 2245 - 2278 Danivon Luze. 2278 - 2292 Zasper Ertigon. 2292 - 2298 party defunct. 2298 - 2320 Aris Luze. 2320 - 2333 Dorien Chernell. 2333 - 2422 Colonel 'X'. 2422 - 2459 party defunct. 2459 - 2475 Colonel 'X'. It is not known who exactly the various holders of the name Colonel 'X' were, but it is believed that five different men have used it between 2300 and 2475. It is claimed, but not with sufficient proof, that Wilhelm Liebknecht, the leader of the Grössere Dundorf Partei from 2475 to 2513, was the last Colonel 'X'. 2475 - 2513 Wilhelm Liebknecht. (during this period, the Popular Front was subsumed by the separatist Grössere Dundorf Partei. 2513 - present Stephanie Köning =Other significant figures= Eric Guran Gerard Luze Horatio Luze Category:Kirlawan Parties Category:Kirlawa Category:Politics of Kirlawa